The Information Commissioner’s Office and Ofcom have published a joint action plan to tackle nuisance calls and unsolicited text messages. Ofcom has powers to deal with ‘silent’ automated calls and abandoned calls, while the ICO is responsible for dealing with companies that make unwanted marketing calls or send SMS text messages.
Both organisations say they’ll be working in partnership and prioritising a number of areas:
- continuing enforcement against non-compliant organisations,
- improving call and message tracing processes to track down those responsible for unwanted communication,
- an assessment of the impact of the Telephone Preference Service on sales and marketing calls to understand how well the TPS is working, and
- publishing updated industry guidance on marketing consent.
Simon Entwisle, Director of Operations at the ICO, said “Only concerted, joint action can tackle the consumer menace of nuisance calls. This plan shows we mean business and outlines how we will continue our work with Ofcom to tackle the problem.”
This move replaces a five-point Ofcom action plan that was published in January. An update will be published by the ICO and Ofcom early next year.
[Joint action plan; ICO blog]